26 Letters
by Stace88
Summary: 26 stories of Will and Emma's relationship, not chronological, with each based on one letter of the alphabet. Ranges from friendship to romance and everything in between. Rated T just to be safe for future chapters.
1. Alphabits

This is my first Glee fanfic. I've done a few pertaining to Numb3rs and a couple of other shows, but this fandom is new to me when it comes to writing. I'm a HUGE Wemma fan and was inspired by several fics in the Bones universe to write this for them.

Each of the chapters is based on a letter of the alphabet, and I'm going to need the help of the readers to complete it. I've done A, and I've got some ideas for some other letters, but I'd love to have suggestions to help with the creativity. Suggestions can be made in the form of a single word, a phrase, or a sentence. I'll always credit the person who gave me the idea, so even if you leave an anonymous review, please give me an initial or fake name to give thanks to. Chapters will not be chronological, but rather a broad view of Will and Emma's relationship from the beginning and onward. There may even be some AU stuff included.

Enjoy! Read and review if you are able!

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**A: Alphabits**

Emma Pillsbury had thought she knew most of Will Schuester's quirks, having known and been friends with him for a few years. He had a strong devotion to his students, especially those who decided to pursue music, but cared for the wellbeing of every student in the school. He ate his Boston Cream donuts by scraping the chocolate off, swiping the filling with a finger, and then devouring the pastry last. Will had different smiles for every occasion: special ones for the Glee kids, a proud parental one for when Finn accomplished something he'd originally been unable to, and, as she'd recently discovered, one reserved just for her.

After his separation from Terri (and the kiss shared in the school hallway), Emma moved Will into her spare bedroom. The two of them had a mutual understanding that nothing could or would be done until the divorce papers were signed by a judge. Neither wanted Terri to attempt an infidelity accusation in order to get back at Will, who had asked his lawyer not to use the fake pregnancy on the papers unless absolutely necessary. Emma had never had a roommate before, but she found Will a very easy person to work with. He understood her limitations with her mysophobia and worked very hard to keep her small, cozy house up to her standards of cleanliness.

Grocery shopping was at first done solely by Emma, with Will accompanying her to see exactly what she purchased. He quickly adapted to using rice milk rather than dairy, buttery spreads and soy margarine as opposed to the real thing, and red meat only if eating out or driving through the McDonald's drive-thru. Emma cooked every meal at home, a stark difference between her and Terri that Will was overjoyed to experience. She often shooed him out of the kitchen and left him to sit in the living room grading papers while inhaling the wonderful smells coming out of the other room. Will would come back from his early morning run to find a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice waiting in the fridge, and the smell of Emma's shampoo and bodywash coming out of the recently empty bathroom.

It was on the weekends that Emma made new discoveries about Will at home. He would always wake up first and move around the kitchen quietly, so as not to wake her. When Emma did emerge from her bedroom, she would find a hot pot of coffee, a bit of fresh fruit salad, and Will eating whatever cereal she had on hand while watching traditional Saturday morning cartoons on her television. Emma would join him in eating breakfast, and then clean the kitchen while Will dragged out Spanish quizzes or papers to mark. The rest of the day would be spent in pajamas doing chores for both the house and school, ending with homemade dinner and whatever cheesy movie was airing on any given channel. Sundays were then very much the same, although Will traditionally headed over to his parents' house for dinner while Emma had an evening to herself.

The first weekend after Will offered to do a shopping trip all by himself (albeit equipped with a detailed list from his roommate) was when Emma discovered something truly monumental about him.

Will had a secret love for children's cereal.

Emma entered the living room with her mug of coffee and bowl of fruit and found herself pausing in the doorway. She gazed at the couch in amusement as Will poked around in his cereal bowl with his spoon, an intense look of concentration on his face.

"Will, what are you doing?" Emma asked, moving over to sit beside him.

"Gah!" Will narrowly managed to avoid dropping the spoon into the bowl of cereal, a move that would cause rice milk to splash onto the pristine carpet. "You scared me!"

"Will, are those Alphabits?" Emma giggled as she peered into his cereal bowl.

"What's it to you?" He winked at her.

"Oh nothing," Emma said nonchalantly. "Isn't that cereal meant for children?"

"I've always loved them, but I haven't had the chance to buy them until last night," Will explained. "It's fun to see what strange words appear when you pour in the milk."

"And what do you see this morning?" Emma inquired, sipping from her mug of coffee while craning her neck to look into his bowl.

The next ten minutes was spent with the both of them identifying any and all words that appeared in Will's cereal. Will had Emma almost choking on her drink in laughter as he made up the strangest words possible, and at a few points brought a light pink blush to her cheeks when pointing out things in Spanish.

"My mom always used to write a message to me in Alphabits every morning before school," Will said once most of the breakfast food had been consumed. He was lounging against the back of the couch with Emma resting her head on his arm. The TV was playing classic Looney Tunes, but neither paid much attention to Bugs' antics.

"Such as?"

"She'd tell me to have a great day, or that I'd do well on a test," Will told her, "but most mornings, Mom would just leave a cereal note that said she loved me."

"That's really sweet," Emma commented. "My mother would always write little notes and put them in our bagged lunches to take to school."

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to be kids again?" Will sighed wistfully, his arm dropping down to encircle Emma's shoulders. "No real worries, never having to pay bills or cook every meal…"

Will felt Emma's body stiffen and he immediately tensed up as well, pulling her closer to his body. "God, I'm sorry Em," Will breathed. "I completely forgot—"

"It's okay Will," Emma assured him, secretly relishing in the feel of his warm, hard body against hers. "I've always wondered what my life would be like if my brother hadn't pushed me into that runoff, but that's never going to happen."

Will simply held Emma tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and then turning his full attention on the cartoons playing in front of them.

***

When Monday morning rolled around, Will emerged from his morning shower to find Emma already gone from the house. She had early meetings with students before school began, and had told him the night before that she would see him at lunchtime. After dressing and gathering the necessary things from the guest bedroom, Will headed for the kitchen to grab the lunch that Emma always left in the fridge for him.

On his way out of the house, Will spotted something waiting on a paper towel on the kitchen table, causing him to stop in his tracks. He walked over to the table and found his heart swell at what he saw.

_You are wonderful. Have a great day._

_

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_

Well folks, there you are. I generally hate these end-of-chapter notes, but since this is the first chapter, I figured I might as well break my own rule. I'm kind of unsure of the note Emma left for him in cereal, but I figure I'll let it slide for now.

Bring on the suggestions! I'll try to post at least once a week, and I'm thankfully on reading break from school in 10 days, so I'll have more to post then.


	2. Butterflies

Wow! Thanks for all of the kind reviews! I do have to say that this fandom is the nicest I've ever posted in or visited. All suggestions for future chapters have been noted, and even if I don't use them in this story, I may possibly do an "extras" featurette when this is all done.

I'm going to attempt to churn these out as fast as possible. I just got one course done and over with, freeing up a bit more time. I've got definite ideas for some, but keeping crankin' out words, phrases, and sentences to provide me with more inspiration. You can also do them for letters I've already done, as I may use them in the aforementioned featurette. Who knows how much free time I'll have after April 4th when my classes (and degree!) are finished.

I may or may not have yet another chapter for you…my only class on Thursdays was canceled due to illness in the prof's family (kid is sick), so I don't have anything to do until a concert dress rehearsal at 8pm. Oh, the hardships!

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**B –Butterflies**

New Directions, along with their coach and chaperone, were ecstatic following their sweeping victory at Regionals. After all of the turmoil that had occurred leading up to the competition, the kids were happy just being able to perform together as a team again. The celebration at the competition venue was fairly subdued compared to the party that raged in the conference room they'd booked for a post-competition team dinner. A multitude of pizza was inhaled by all, along with hotel-provided ice cream and pastries, leaving the kids all full and slightly sluggish as the adrenaline wore off towards the later part of the evening.

"All right kids, listen up!" Will shouted to be heard over the several different celebratory songs still being sung. "I've got good news about tomorrow!"

"Do we have to get up early to bus home?" Puck asked. "Cause that would suck, Mr. Schue."

"Actually, Puck, we're not getting up early to head home," Will corrected the teenager, sharing a smile with Emma from across the room. "As a surprise for all of you, Miss Pillsbury and I have decided to spend a little bit more of our budget and stay here one more night."

"Are we going to have to go around and do tourist things?" Kurt piped up from the back of the crowd.

"You can do whatever you want," Will said, pausing for the cheers that erupted around him. "There are rules though."

"You need to be in groups of at least two people, and one of you must have a cell phone so we can stay in touch if need be," Emma explained. "Curfew still stands for tomorrow night, and just remember that we'll be getting up extra early the next morning to make it home on time."

"Do we need to call our parents?" Artie asked. "My dad's expecting to pick me up tomorrow night at the school."

"We've already called all of them and let them know what's happening," Will told them. "I didn't tell them that we won. I figured that you all would like to do that yourselves."

A chorus of "Thanks, Schue!" and "You guys are awesome!" went through the room as the students thanked their teacher and chaperone profusely. The festivities then continued with Will and Emma being coerced into singing with the glee kids as they broke into the Queen classic _We Will Rock You_.

Quinn was the first to leave, along with Rachel, her bunkmate for the trip. She was in the latter part of her pregnancy now, and the brunette was one of the few who was entrusted with her constant supervision. Tina, Artie, Kurt, and Mercedes left not long after them, followed by Brittany and Santana, who Emma had suggested be put into separate rooms due to some unusual rumours running rampant through the school. It was almost midnight by the time Will and Emma managed to convince all four football guys to retire to their rooms, both adults almost dropping from exhaustion as they watched the final hotel room doors shut and lock behind the boys.

"I don't want to move," Will groaned as he dropped facedown onto the only bed in his and Emma's shared room. "So tired…"

"You need to get changed, Will," Emma poked his back on her way past him. "I'll take the bathroom to change first, and you can fight slumber for a few more minutes."

"Nng," was his only response. Emma giggled quietly to herself, gathering her pajamas and shutting the bathroom door behind her.

When she emerged a few minutes later, Will had changed into striped pajama pants and a faded McKinley High t-shirt. The TV was on and he was channel surfing, trying to find something remotely interesting to watch.

"Anything good on?" Emma asked, startling Will out of his television trance.

"Uh, no, not really," Will said distractedly. He stared at Emma as she moved throughout the room. "Just the usual late night talk shows and crappy made-for-TV movies."

"I'm fine with whatever you pick," Emma pulled back the blankets on her side of the large bed and crawled in. Will did the same on his side, relishing in the comfort of the linens and pillows Emma had brought from home.

It was hard for him to concentrate on the TV with Emma propped up on the pillows just inches from his arm. Will managed to sneak a few sideways glances her way, and felt his heart melt just a bit more with what he saw. Emma had pushed her hair back with a purple butterfly headband that perfectly matched her pajamas. The television screen was highlighting her hair with light blues and greens, making Will's fingers itch to reach over and run his fingers through it. It had been difficult for him to stamp down the urges to act on his feelings ever since the kiss in the hallway a few months previous, but being in the same hotel room and having to share a bed with Emma over the past few nights had only made it that much harder for him.

"Will? Will, are you okay?" Emma's voice broke through his thoughts, causing his eyes to snap back up to meet hers.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Will asked.

"I asked if you wanted to go to sleep now," Emma averted her eyes from Will's, a light blush covering her cheeks. "You seemed very tired when we got back here, and now you're losing focus…"

"Yeah, sleep would be great," Will said as he turned off the TV.

Emma switched off the lamp on the bedside table, plunging the room into darkness. Both of them huddled close to their respective sides of the bed, leaving a rather large gap in between them. After a few moments in the darkness, Will turned onto his other side and faced the Emma shaped lump under the covers on the other side.

"You're staring, Will," Emma whispered, rotating to face him.

"Sorry," Will breathed. His gaze narrowed a bit, brow furrowing as Emma shivered and pulled her comforter closer around herself. "Cold, Em?"

"A bit," she admitted. "I don't think the heating system works very well in this room."

"Come over here," Will moved onto his back and extended an arm towards her. "No sense in trying to get to sleep if you're cold."

"Will, I'm not sure…" Emma hesitated, torn between keeping things professional between two teachers and following her heart.

"I won't tell Em, and it's not like the kids are going to find out," Will's smile was, unfortunately for her brain, just as powerful in the near dark as in blinding sunlight. "It'll help us both get to sleep faster."

Emma finally caved and scooted over, resting her head on Will's chest and slinging her arm gingerly around his stomach while his curved around her back. "Mmm, you are warm," she unconsciously nuzzled into him, relishing in the warm his body passed on to hers.

Will chuckled and leaned down to place a soft kiss on the butterfly headband adorning her hair. "Nice pajamas, Butterfly," he whispered into her scalp. "They suit you well."

"Goodnight, Will," Emma said, willing the now-fiery blush to fade from her face.

"Goodnight, Butterfly," Will answered.

For the first time in quite a while, both Will and Emma fell into dreamland with smiles.


	3. Chaperone

'Allo mates! Sorry, I'm currently watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Philosopher's Stone to me, the Canadian) with my roommate and we're gushing at how little and cute they all are.

ANYWAYS…

Onto letter C! This suggestion was given to me by **cheesypoofs** in her review of the last chapter. It really got me thinking so thanks! Keep these wonderful suggestions coming in, as I'm compiling them all in a word document, along with any that pop into my head. Also, I'm not sure if there is a Six Flags anywhere near where Lima is supposed to be in Ohio…but for the sake of Will and Emma, let's pretend that there is. Oh yes, I am going there. *grin*

Some people have asked if these stories all tie together or if they're all separate. At this time, they simply tie into the storyline of the first 13 episodes. Some may link up with others in some form or another, and if it's a major tie-in I'll make a definite note of it. There may be some linkage, as in Will calling Emma "Butterfly" (reference to the previous chapter, of course), but I don't have anything major planned as of yet.

I'm just six days away from going home for nine days (yay reading break!), and I'll be able to write almost as much as I want during that time period. I do have to visit people and old teachers and such, but I'm taking quite a bit of time to just sit on my butt on my parents' couch and cuddle with the dog.

Enjoy this story! This is so much fun for me to write, mostly because of the wonderful reviews I keep getting.

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The idea had been rather simple at the beginning. Will had offered to take the New Directions kids out for a day-long celebration anywhere they wanted to go (within reason) after their stunning victory at the State competition. There were too many of them for him to handle by himself, so Emma had offered to come along to assist in making sure that the kids all stayed in line. This was a decision that she quickly regretted when Will informed her exactly where the kids had chosen to go.

Six Flags Amusement Park.

Will and Emma had been dating just a few weeks, since his and Terri's divorce hadn't been finalized until just before the State competition. He had managed to break down a few of her mysophobic behaviours, the latest being Emma's fear of eating food made by others. They had gone out to certain restaurants and talked to the chefs about her issues, and the entire staff at the two places had been more than accommodating to Emma's needs. Carnival food, however, was a completely different demon that Will knew Emma wasn't about to face anytime soon.

After a two hour bus ride to the park, the students scattered all about in groups of two or three, some aiming for the rides while others went straight for the food and games. Quinn was barely able to travel with them, and as such would be sticking with Will and Emma for the duration of their trip to Six Flags. Puck had opted to go on rides with Matt and Mike somewhat reluctantly, but Quinn had insisted that it didn't take three people to watch over one pregnant teenager. For the most part, the girl was simply content to take pictures and watch her friends while rubbing her engorged stomach.

"Mr. Schue!" Rachel came skipping over to him and Emma, Finn tagging along behind her as per usual. "Finn and I were wondering if you wanted to come and check out the House of Mirrors with us."

"I'm not sure we should both be leaving Quinn alone," Emma hesitated.

"Go!" Quinn said firmly. "There are people all around here, and we've all got cell phones. I'll yell if there's trouble of any sort."

"Let's go!" Finn grabbed Will's arm and began pulling the two chaperones towards the small, dilapidated house just up the path. "Mercedes is saving us a place in the line."

Will handed over tickets for his and Emma's entries into the House of Mirrors, smiling when she grabbed his hand to hold on tightly. "If you're not comfortable with this, Em, we can always say no to the kids," he whispered in her ear.

"No, I can do this," Emma assured him, squeezing his hand. "Besides, it could be fun, right?"

"Come on, Schue!" Finn urged from his spot just inside the house.

"Miss Pillsbury, hurry up!" Rachel called out.

"We'd better go," Will winked down at Emma and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

The House of Mirrors was a fascinating thing for Emma, who had never been to a carnival before in her life. She could see multiples of Rachel and Finn in many different mirrors, making it easy for her and Will to spot when they should call out the students' names to remind them of their presence. The teens' romance had blossomed not long before their own, and the two duos had run into each other during casual dates around Lima before.

After being in the house for a bit, Emma suddenly realized that Will was no longer at her side. "Will? Will, where did you go?" Emma called out.

"Over here!" Will appeared in ten different mirrors, waving in almost as many different directions. "This way, Em!"

"Will, that's not funny," Emma growled while Rachel and Finn laughed further back in the house. "Will, we need to get back outside in a few minutes."

"Come and find me then," Will teased. "I'm waiting for you…"

"Mr. Schue! Minors in here!" Finn whined playfully. "We don't need to hear that!"

Emma couldn't help the smirk that came across her face upon hearing Will getting berated by his student. It seemed as though the roles of chaperone and student were being reversed on Will, something that was extremely amusing considering who it was coming from. As she attempted to negotiate her way through the maze of mirrors, Emma recalled a number of times in public venues when Will had needed to physically separate Finn and Rachel due to their apparent complete lack of modesty. At least they had the excuse of rampant teenage hormones.

"Will!" Emma cried out as she accidentally ran directly into a mirror reflecting the image of an open hallway. "Ow! Damnit Will, where are yo—eek!"

A hand shot out of a slightly darkened corner and pulled her towards a familiar warm, hard body. "Gotcha," Will breathed into her ear.

"What are you doing?" Emma whispered urgently, looking around to see if Rachel and Finn were nearby.

"What I've wanted to do all day," Will's eyes locked steadily onto hers.

And then he kissed her.

Thoughts of students and germs flew out of her mind as Emma melted into Will's body, her arms winding tightly around his neck. All she could process was Will's arms holding her close to him and his lips doing wonderful things against hers.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Finn's voice broke through the haze of Emma's mind, causing her to break away from him abruptly.

"Looks like we're not the ones who need chaperones, right Finn?" Rachel smirked at the blushing adults.

"This is purely payback for all those times we had to break you two apart," Will shot back teasingly. "Besides, we're the adults here."

"Come on, we should meet up with everyone else," Finn led the other three towards the main door of the house. "And stay a respectable distance apart, you two. We're watching."


	4. Daughters

It's been longer than the last ones, but I've been busy. The last few days of school went by faster than I'd predicted, and then I had to pack as I am now home for Reading Break! I haven't been home since Thanksgiving in October, and that was only three days.

Also, as a side note – WE WON GOLD! I'm extremely proud to be a Canadian right now, as Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada's first gold medal of the Games this year, and the first EVER on home soil. I am SO happy that I was able to watch it live in my parents' living room! I just need to add that I _loved_ the reaction from the Australian guy who was bumped from the gold spot by Bilodeau when the Canadian won. We could tell that he really wanted to beat Canada on its home turf (if you read his bio, you'll know why), and then pouted live during the flower presentation AND medal ceremony. As a proud Canadian with a bit of a competitive edge, I feel the great need to say "Suck it!". So I did. :D

All right, so, on we go with the next chapter. I had originally started with one idea, and then had this one pop into my head while re-watching the coverage of both the women's and men's moguls from Saturday and Sunday, respectively. There's really no connection between the two…it just kind of happened.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! I hope you enjoy this.

* * *

**D – Daughters**

"Daddy, Daddy! Look what I can do!"

"No Daddy, look at me!"

Will laughed as his two little redheads nearly took him out at the knees in their excitement to see him. "Slow down there, girls!" He laughed, dropping his bag to embrace them tightly.

"Melissa, Chloe, give your father room to breathe," their mother scolded as she emerged from the kitchen.

"But Mommy!"

"No buts, Melissa," Emma said firmly. "You need to let your father get at least four steps into the house before you run at him."

"Why don't you both go and wait for me in the living room?" Will suggested, looping an arm around Emma's waist to bring her close. "Mommy and I will be there in just a moment."

"Hello, Daddy," Emma smiled at Will and finished wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "I missed you today."

"I missed you too, as always," Will said. He pulled her further into his body and bent his head down to kiss her fully. "Mmm, yes, I did miss you."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Came twin whines from the direction of the living room.

"They're calling for us," Emma pointed out, running the silk of Will's tie through her fingers. "We'd better go in there."

"Keep thinking what you're thinking," Will winked cheesily at his wife. They both laughed as she chased him down the hall to the other room, flicking him with the dishtowel much to the delight of their daughters.

* * *

"That's not fair! How come Chloe gets to do something and I don't?" Melissa continued to whine as she proceeded her father into the house.

"Chloe is two years older than you, Missa," Will explained patiently. "She will always be able to do things before you, sweetie."

"But that's just not fair!" Melissa stamped her twelve-year-old foot down hard. "You and Mom are horrible! I hate you both!"

"Melissa!" Will called out, watching hopelessly as his younger daughter ran upstairs and slammed her bedroom door as loud as she possibly could.

"Will? Will, what's going on?" Emma asked worriedly, emerging from the living room where she'd been watching Disney movies with their son and his oldest sister.

"I had to tell her that she couldn't go on a weekend trip with a friend and the friend's older sister," Will sighed. "She's never said that she hates me before."

"Missa's twelve, Will," Emma said as she pulled him into a warm embrace. "We've apparently gotten away easily with Chloe, so we're well overdue for a horrible teenage attitude."

"How did this just show up overnight?" Will wanted to know. "She was fine yesterday."

"It's called hormones, Dad," Chloe said as she walked by. At fourteen, she considered herself to be the Fountain of All Knowledge Pertinent to Anything. "They just happen whenever."

"Go talk to her, Will," Emma advised.

"But you're a girl! You can get through to her better!" Will protested weakly. "I'm just going to get yelled at and insulted again."

"Man up, Will," Emma used her 'tough love' tone that she had adopted when the girls had gotten old enough to whine when they didn't get what they wanted. "She's a twelve-year-old girl. You're her father. Just remember, she may dislike you right now, but she's never going to actually hate you."

"Just offer her something pink and frilly, and she'll forgive you," Chloe snarked, walking back into the living room with the huge jar full of cookies.

"Talk," Emma said before following Chloe to deal with the cookie situation.

Will squared his shoulders and headed upstairs to talk to his daughter.

* * *

The sliver of light that cut into the room when the door cracked open roused both Will and Emma from the deep grip of sleep. "Whozat?" Will muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Daddy? Mommy? Can I come in?" Chloe's small voice interrupted the silence.

"Sure sweetie, come on up," Emma patted the middle of the bed and moved aside to create a small space in between her and her husband. "What's wrong?"

"Are you sure that there's a new baby coming?" Chloe asked once she'd settled in between her half-asleep parents in their bed.

"Yes, we're sure," Will beamed as he reached over to place a loving hand on Emma's slightly rounded stomach. "Why?"

"Is this new baby going to make you love me and Missa any less?" Chloe immediately hid her face in Will's chest after she asked the question.

Will gaped at Emma, neither of them knowing quite what they should say. "And where did you get that idea, Chloe?" Her father asked softly.

"Amber at school said that when her mommy and daddy had another new baby, they stopped looking at her and her sister and just looked at the baby," Chloe sniffled as tears started to fall from her eyes.

"That's just nonsense," Emma proclaimed. "We could only ever love you more, never less."

"But Amanda's in second grade, and she's really smart," Chloe said. She looked up at both of her parents with both confusion and frustration present in her big brown eyes.

"Does that make her smarter than me?" Will asked, leaning down to kiss Chloe's nose and earn himself a giggle. "Does that make her smarter than Mommy?"

"No, cause you guys are old," Chloe stated with the knowing tone of a six-year-old.

"Well, then, there you have it," Will said as he decided that talking his daughter out of thinking her parents were old was a losing battle. "Amber can't possibly be right about us loving you less when the new baby comes. We still loved you exactly the same when Missa was born, and we're going to love you just as much when the new baby comes."

"Promise?" Chloe gazed hopefully at both of her parents, the tears finally drying from her eyes.

"Promise on a seashell on the seashore," the adults recited together. This was a saying that Chloe had come up with one afternoon when they had taken a family vacation to a sunny Miami beach. Since then it was all that she would let them promise with.

And to a six-year-old, that meant that everything would be okay.

* * *

I usually hate these notes (as I've said before) but I couldn't **not** share this with you. Oh. My. GAWD! Copy and paste the link (without spaces, of course): http: //ca . eonline . com / videos / v50279_glee-peek- . html and you will be a **very** happy Gleek. Especially those of us who love Wemma/Wilma/whatever-they-are.

I'm far too delirious in happiness (both over this and the fact that Canada won its **second** gold today! Hurrah for Maelle Ricker!), so I'm going to stop now. And possibly watch that video again. Exactly 8 weeks today until **Hello** airs!


	5. Eternity

Hi all! Sorry it's been longer than usual, but life kind of kicked me a bit when reading break came to an end. I've slept very little over the past few days, and unfortunately slept through my private lesson today. That didn't go over well, as you can probably imagine. Oh dear…

I came up with this one while watching CSI:NY with my roommate. It just kind of popped into my head, which is good because I was having issues with coming up with a suggestion for E. I hope you all like it…and I apologize if it doesn't make any sense, as I'm extraordinarily tired. I'm sorry it's so short....but I hope the next one will be much longer.

On another note – Go Team Canada! I know Canadians are supposed to be nice and polite…but when it comes to hockey, we're wild and crazy. Therefore, it is only right for me to say "Suck it, Russia!" and then apologize to all my Russian relatives. *shrug* Also, four medals in one day! Go Canada!

Finally, Canadian women once again captured the hockey gold (no surprise from me) in a very good game against the US. No one can defeat Canadian women in hockey. And it's not just because I'm Canadian that I say that.

I'm a bit emotional because of Joannie Rochette's free skate performance tonight. So well done and such a well deserved medal. I can't imagine what she's going through right now, but I'm so glad that she won this medal for herself and her mom. Joannie has become a Canadian hero over the past week, I'm sure. So, if she likes Glee (which I'm not sure of), then this is a salute to you, Joannie. You were amazing, and are such an inspiration to every athlete throughout the world.

Keep the reviews and suggestions coming! Thanks to everyone who's given them so far, and thanks to all those who are forthcoming!

* * *

**E – Eternity**

Eternity was never really a concept that Emma Pillsbury had envisioned being a part of her life. She was well aware that her mysophobia had basically destroyed any chance of that, and she had avoided trying to truly deal with it for years. It was only when she met Will Schuester that Emma began thinking about what it would be like to have someone around all of the time. Sure, it gave her the heebie-jeebies to imagine sharing a bathroom with a man (as she remembered what the bathroom had looked after her brother and his friends used it), but she could imagine Will being clean and understanding about her slightly odd tendencies.

This was tested just after Will left his wife (and their kiss in the hallway), when Will moved into Emma's condo during the process of his divorce. Emma's guest bedroom was only ever used when her parents came to visit once a year at Thanksgiving, so Emma took the time to clean the room to her standards. She bought fresh sheets, pillowcases, pillows and blankets especially for the bed although Will had told her that it wouldn't be necessary. He was fine with things just the way Emma had them before she'd offered up her home to him.

Emma began to wonder about the concept of eternity when Will's and Terri's divorce was finalized. Both she and Will had been insistent about waiting until the papers were finished and signed by a judge before proceeding with their relationship in any form past friendship. There were a few slipups along the way, including a rather steamy one that ended when Will had realized that they were both far too close to being naked to be taking it slow. The day that the divorce was official, Will had arrived back home and immediately swept Emma up in a deeply passionate kiss.

It was nearly a year later that Emma finally realized that she could have the same sense of eternity that people without her issues did. It occurred on a small, secluded beach in California, surrounded by a few family members and the entirety of McKinley High's New Directions that she first heard someone promise to love her for eternity. The feeling finally began to sink in as the thin silver band was slid onto her fourth finger, as Will kissed her when prompted by the official, and finally as she opened her eyes to see a brilliant smile gracing the face of her husband.

"What are you thinking about, Em?" Will asked later, surrounded by friends and family at a small reception in Rachel's backyard.

"I just can't believe this is actually happening to me," Emma whispered.

"What do you mean?" Will reached out and ran his fingers through a few strands of hair that had fallen out of her updo.

"I never thought that I'd have someone," Emma admitted. "My problem always prevented me from being really close to anyone before I met you."

"Emma…" Will breathed as he kissed her hand lightly.

"I've said it before Will, but I really do love you," Emma's voice quivered a bit with the powerful emotions she was feeling. "I just can't believe I finally have someone."

"You're my one in five billion, Em," Will pulled her into a warm embrace. "Forever and for all eternity."


	6. First Date

Not much of a note…but really, this is to make up for the very small chapter for "E". Thanks again for the reviews and suggestions! Anything for "G" yet? I'm without ideas at the moment…

* * *

**F – First Date**

It had taken a year and a half for Emma to buck up the courage to tell Will how she felt, and two more days for Will to finally kiss her. Will's and Terri's divorce had taken up the better part of a year, with Will and Emma attempting to simply be roommates and not give in to temptation (which had almost occurred once during their weekly movie night). They ate dinner together almost every night, shared breakfast duties, and lounged around together on the weekends. Will brought Emma out of her shell, getting her comfortable enough to sing and dance around the kitchen with him while they were cooking or cleaning. Emma also began participating more in Glee rehearsals, assisting Will in selecting and sometimes even presenting the material that the kids would be preparing for upcoming competitions and invitationals. She wasn't quite comfortable with the playfulness that the Glee kids seemed to emit around Will but she had to admit that it was slowly growing on her.

One week after Will's divorce was finalized, he at last asked Emma out on an actual date. He told her that the whole thing was a surprise and absolutely nothing else. This left Emma fretting about where they would be going, what they would be doing, and what would be appropriate to wear on the most important first date of her life. It suddenly seemed as though nothing in her wardrobe could possibly be good enough for an event as huge as this was turning out to be. Emma spend four hours shopping in Lima for a dress before giving up and taking a day off from school to head upstate to Cleveland for the afternoon. Will was extremely curious about what she'd picked up when she finally arrived back at what had become their condo around dinnertime. Thankfully, Emma had gotten a garment bag to cover the dress, and shooed Will away from her bedroom while she hid the dress in a back corner of her closet.

The Friday of Emma's and Will's date finally arrived, bringing with it a brilliantly blue sky and shining sun. There was no school that day, but Will had scheduled a short New Directions rehearsal in the early afternoon as Sectionals was fast approaching again. Emma took her sweet time relaxing in her Jacuzzi bath (she felt a bit cleaner with the water was constantly moving around her) and spent an hour just pampering herself in a manner she hadn't done in quite a long time. Will had been banished to the guest room and living room when he got home, as she wanted her complete outfit to be a surprise for him.

At six o'clock on the dot, Will knocked on Emma's bedroom door lightly. "Hey Em? You ready to go?" He asked through the barrier separating them.

"Coming!" Emma called out, taking one last look in the mirror. She steeled herself with a deep breath and opened the door to face Will.

"Wow." Was all Will could manage for a moment. Emma's dress was a simple black halter dress, tying around the neck, dipping lower than Will had ever seen before in the front and ending just above the knee. Her hair was half twisted up in bobby pins, the rest allowed to curl around her neck and shoulders.

Emma blushed, looking down at her feet while sneaking a peak up at Will in his black suit, the white shirt open at the collar and lacking a tie. "You look great, Will."

"Wow, Emma," Will repeated. "Just, wow."

"Thanks," Emma's blush flared deep red.

"Follow me," Will swept into a dramatically low bow, causing Emma to giggle as she led the way down the hall to the living room.

"Will…" Emma gasped upon entering the living room.

All of the furniture had been pushed back to create a large open space in the middle of the room. A flannel picnic blanket lay in the open space, covered in plates of different types of food. The lights were turned down so the room was lit by the lone streetlamp outside the living room window and the blue coming from the inactive TV screen.

"Will, this is beautiful," Emma turned to beam at the slightly nervous looking man behind her. "I thought we were going out somewhere."

"I thought you'd be more comfortable at home," Will scratched the back of his neck, returning Emma's smile. "I decided to try out some new stuff tonight, so I really hope it all tastes okay."

"I know it will," Emma gazed at the spread, still in awe at Will's effort and thoughtfulness. "Shall we sit?"

Food was consumed slowly over the course of the evening. Everything that Will had prepared turned out to be delicious, much to his surprise and Emma's delight. She found herself loving the simplicity of the dishes set out in front of them, her fast favourite being the flattened and fried small potatoes. Both had their legs stretched out in front of them, and Will couldn't help tracing his fingers up and down her smooth calf as they talked. When the food was finished, Will quickly cleaned up the remaining dishes, hushing Emma's offers to help, and made sure to load them into the dishwasher before returning to their date.

"I believe I promised you dinner and a movie," Will said, "so take your pick and I'll slip it in."

"Well, since you've been trying to get me to watch Hairspray for the past few weeks, I'll choose that one," Emma winked at him, moving to rest her back against the couch.

"Hairspray it is, m'lady," Will shot a wink back at her as he went to set up the movie.

Unlike their previous movie-watching ventures, especially after the unfortunate slipup before the divorce was finalized, Will immediately pulled Emma's legs into his lap once he sat down next to her. Emma snuggled closer to his body's warmth, sharing a smile with him as he pressed play on the DVD remote. She was quickly swept up in the magic of Tracy Turnblad and her friends, urging them on in their quest to integrate the Corny Collins show. The music was catchy, costumes fun, and dancing extremely energetic. Will sang along with all of the songs he knew and Emma began picking up on choruses as the movie played on.

It was after midnight by the time their movie-watching ventures finally came to an end. Emma had been so into the movie that she'd insisted on watching all of the accompanying special features. They then rewatched the movie with Emma now being able to sing more of the lyrics than before. Towards the end, however, Will noticed that Emma was beginning to lean a bit more into his shoulder. Her body was relaxing in his lap, where he'd placed her after putting the special features disc into the DVD player.

"Hey sweetheart, you tired?" Will ran his hand down her bare arm to grab her attention from the TV screen.

"Mmm, a bit," Emma almost purred, stretching her legs out in front of her. "We can keep watching though, I don't mind."

"You're going to in the morning if we fall asleep like this," Will advised. "Upsy-daisy, Emma."

Emma moved off of Will's lap and grasped his hands as he pulled her to her feet. "I'm glad tomorrow's Saturday," she said. "I might just sleep in tomorrow morning."

"You should sleep in," Will suggested, leading the way down the hall to her room. "I've never seen you sleep past seven-thirty on a weekend, you know."

"I had a really great time tonight, Will," Emma smiled up at him when they stopped in front of her bedroom door. "Thank you for everything."

"Glad you had fun," Will's eyes sparkled in the dim hallway light. "So I guess I'll see you in the morning?"

"It is my turn to make breakfast," Emma told him. "Good night Will."

Will leaned down and nuzzled his nose against hers, pressing their lips together softly for a moment. "Night Em," he whispered while backing down the hall.

Emma went into her room and shut the door. In a move completely unlike her, she let herself fall back against the door and slide all of the way down to rest on the soft carpet. Her hand came up involuntarily and she found herself touching her still tingling lips lightly. A smile began creeping across her face as Emma realized that what she'd been waiting years for was finally in her grasp. She was happy.


	7. Giggles

Hello again! I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed over the last six chapters. If I'm having a horrible day, I just come home and your reviews cheer me up immensely. Please continue reviewing and suggesting words/phrases for letters!

This one came out of watching the two new Glee promos (watch them if you haven't…OMGWEMMAGOODNESS!). Okay, calm down…whew. I can't wait until April 13th…my friends and I are having a Glee evening at my place that night. We're re-watching Sectionals and talking before starting up with Hello at 9pm!

Enjoy, and please review and provide me with more of your wonderful ideas!

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**G – Giggles**

The board games had been Will's idea, a change of plans from their usual dinner-and-movie nights that had become dates in recent weeks. They had managed to make their way through all of the Rodgers and Hammerstein collection, as well as Emma's entire set of John Hughes movies. After a wonderful dinner of non-dairy lasagna made with soy cheese and tofu, Will intercepted Emma on her way to the DVD tower and presented her with a large wrapped box.

"What is this?" Emma asked, smiling up at Will.

"A present!" Will answered happily. "Open it!"

Emma tore at the wrapping paper in a manner completely opposite of what most people would expect from her. "Life, Will?" She raised a curious eyebrow at him.

"Yeah! I thought we could play it tonight instead of watching the dusty copy of The Shining," Will suggested.

"You'll have to show me how to play, though," Emma sauntered over to the couch and sat down on the floor beside it, placing the game box down beside her.

Ten minutes later, two large bowls of popcorn and pretzels sat on either side of the game board as Will explained the game to his girlfriend while setting up the pieces. "Why do you get the choice to start a career or go to college?" Emma's brow was furrowed in frustration.

"The game tries to emulate real life at some points," Will said. "Most of it is just for fun, though."

"How do we decide who starts?" Emma reached out and selected the white minivan, sticking a small pink person into the driver's seat.

"Spin the wheel, and whoever spins highest goes first," Will told her.

Emma's four beat Will's one, and she chose to go the college route. "And now I spin to go around the board?" Emma asked, accepting the $25,000 and two bank loans that Will handed her.

"Go ahead," Will prompted.

Over the next two hours, the two adults competed with a fierceness usually only seen in small children playing tag. Will had pulled Emma over to sit in his lap, trying to distract her by kissing her neck when it was her turn to spin the spinner. Emma in turn took to elbowing Will in the ribs whenever he did this, or using her toe to lightly nudge his hand when he took his turn with the spinner.

The game finally came to an end after some rather dirty moves from both players involving lips, jabs, and one incident of Emma stealing a couple of Will's Life cards. Will retaliated by knocking over Emma's pile of Life cards and pushing her van back a few spaces when she didn't notice. Of course, it all came back to bite him in the ass when they finally finished.

"Why Will, I do believe that I have beaten you by quite a margin," Emma said innocently, holding up the final tally for her funds and Life cards on a calculator.

"Yeah, yeah, beginner's luck," Will teased. "Why don't you put this away and I'll take care of the dishes in the kitchen?"

"Just leave them rinsed in the sink," Emma said as she began to sweep all of the pieces back into the small holding tray. "We can do them in the morning."

"Do you want to watch a movie still?" Will called out over the running water in the kitchen a few moments later. "It's not like we have anywhere to be early tomorrow morning."

Emma finished stowing the game in its box and moved stand at the kitchen door. "What do you have in mind, Will?" She leaned up against the door frame and watched him move around the kitchen with a practiced ease that came from him having lived with her for a few months.

"I'm up for almost anything, Em," Will winked at her over his shoulder. "Lead the way."

"Mmm, I can think of something we could be doing," Emma reached out and pulled Will closer to her.

"And what are you up to, Miss Em?" Will said, backing Emma towards the couch in small steps.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emma teased. She squealed rather loudly as Will pushed her backwards, landing lightly on top of her on the couch. Her smile grew from an amused one to one of great pleasure when Will's lips connected solidly with hers.

"You know, I haven't done this for years," Will said sometime later. Both had settled comfortably into the cushions, Emma now on top of Will, and were giving their swollen lips a short break from the seemingly marathon-like make-out session they had been engaged in.

"Done what?" Emma inquired.

"This," Will explained. "Just lie on the couch making out and not caring about anything else. The last time I did this was in high school. Terri never thought it was appropriate to do after we graduated."

"I've never done it before," Emma admiteed, a deep blush blossoming on her cheeks. "I was always too afraid of the messy things with anyone before…"

Will felt his own cheeks heat up as he understood what the end of her sentence was. "I'm sad that you've never had this experience," he broke the slight tension that filled the room. "It's kind of fun to do some nights."

"I could get used to it," Emma winked down at him as she leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. "I like this change to our movie night."

"Change could always become permanent," Will suggested. He ran his hands up Emma's neck and buried them into her hair, tilting her head to give him better access to the soft white skin of her neck.

"That's probably a good idea," Emma said through the moan that fought its way out of her. "The majority has ruled in favour of the change."

"Thank God," Will muttered, cracking a wide smile before pulling her lips down to meet his again.


	8. Hero

Hey again! Thanks to all my lovely reviewers and suggestion-givers, here's another chapter!

**SunsetDaze** – I really wanted to use "horny", but I've got issues writing that stuff. It just never comes out right, unfortunately. Maybe in the next round of these?

Just a couple of notes before we start:

First of all, I had someone ask for permission to use this 26 oneshot idea. These are out there everywhere, and I encourage everyone to write their own if they want to! No need to ask for permission unless you're planning on using my storylines.

Second, I'm terribly sorry that I haven't updated in a while. School got crazy for a few days, but I now only have two assignments left to hand in, a performance and written test on the violin (which we just picked up at the beginning of February – eek!), a written exam at the end of April in my history course, and my final performance jury on my instrument. And then, my degree is over.

Also, I'm not sure how many people have seen it yet, but Global just released a new Glee promo here in Canada today, complete with Will cracking on Sue's hair! My roommate and I laughed really, really hard at the comment and Will's facial expression afterwards. If you haven't seen it yet, let me know and I'll message you the comments both of them make, just in case any of you out there don't want any spoilers.

Enjoy! Keep coming with the suggestions – they're greatly appreciated! Even if I don't use yours right off the bat, I am thinking of perhaps doing a leftovers collection or even another round once this is done. I'll have a lot of free time over the summer, as I'm graduating with my Bachelor's degree in just a few weeks.

* * *

**H – Hero**

Emma could hardly remember what it was like to be "normal", without her mysophobia holding her down. Her age was still in the single digits the last time she had been able to ingest dairy or go five minutes without feeling the need to Purrell. It was something she had just simply learned to live with over the years, despite the fact that it had ruined relationships and friendships time and time again. Emma had grown used to being alone.

Until she met Will Schuester.

There was something about Will that made him different to her. Emma felt as though she wanted to be near him, something she hadn't felt in a long time. When he accidentally brushed up against her hand, she didn't jump or flinch and immediately feel the need to Purrell. She would automatically smile when he smiled at her, laugh when he chuckled, and felt her heart jerk when his eyes would fill with frustrated tears due to Sue or his wife.

When Will took over Glee club, Emma found herself being included in the process as well. He came to her with questions, needing her opinion on decisions he was unsure of, and asked her to judge a competition between the boys and girls that turned into a bigger mess than either of them could have imagined. Will's visits to her office became weekly at first, and then increasing until they were sometimes more than once a day. They would chat about Glee, the news, the weather, books, movies, almost anything that could keep them occupied for whatever period of time they had to spend in each other's company.

One morning, the skies were grey and dreary when Emma woke up. She was careful to bring her umbrella and wear rain shoes upon leaving the house, just in case it decided to pour rain while she was at school. The skies stayed intact through the entirety of her drive to the school, as well as during her walk from the staff parking lot to the school's front doors.

The majority of the day was stable weather wise as well, as Emma kept a constant watch during her daily appointments. Will even seemed to notice that she wasn't completely there at lunch, but she brushed it off as a particularly difficult meeting with a student that had happened prior to the break. Even her appointments didn't go as usual with Emma gazing out of the window and staring at the clouds more than listening to her students.

At the end of the day, Emma happily packed up her things and headed for the door. She had a full night of cleaning and catching up on her reading ahead of her, and was eager to get a headstart as soon as possible.

Until she was doused in rain upon stepping out the front doors of the school.

The books and bag Emma were carrying fell with a splash to the muddy ground beneath her feet and she gasped at the amount of cold water pouring down on her. She had been so preoccupied with her evening plans that she hadn't noticed that the skies had opened up and let everything fall. And now, she was soaked to the skin with all of her things becoming caked in mud.

"Emma?" A voice broke through the haze in her mind. "Oh my God, Emma! Are you okay?"

"Will?" Emma's voice came out as a hoarse whisper.

"Hold on, Em," Will threw his bag further over his back and bent down to scoop her up into his arms. "Come on now."

"Will!" Emma squeaked, wrapping her arms around his neck in an attempt to stay close to him.

Will managed to maneuver Emma so he could open the passenger side door of his car, where he deposited her lightly before going back to retrieve her things and toss them in the back of his car. "Let's get you clean and dry," Will said as he slid into the driver's seat. He turned on the car and cranked up the heat, directing all of the fans at her. "We'll be home in a few minutes, Em."

Sure enough, they pulled to a stop in front of Will's apartment building, close enough to the doors so Will could get them both inside with minimal chance of getting rained upon. "Okay Emma, coming around," Will dashed out of his side and over to hers. He unbuckled her, pulled her up into his arms again, and hurried inside his building.

"I'm cold," Emma mumbled, burrowing into Will's damp chest in an attempt to soak up his body heat.

"Almost there, Em," Will reassured her as he hurried up the stairs to the second floor. "We'll get you into the shower to warm up and then into some nice clean dry clothes."

Once the door opened Will took no time in hurrying Emma through the apartment and into the bathroom. He set her on her feet in front of the shower stall and sank down to the ground, lifting up her feet to remove her slightly waterlogged shoes. Emma shrugged out of her soaked cardigan and looked around nervously. "Um, Will? Where can I put this?"

"Just drop it in the bathtub," Will advised. "I'll put all of this in the wash for you."

"Then what am I going to wear?" Emma felt her face heating up rather quickly.

"I'll, uh, just go grab something clean of mine that you can slip into," Will said as he stood, Emma's shoes in hand. "Just go ahead and get into the shower…I'll bring you something warm and a couple of towels in a moment."

When Will returned with a freshly warmed towel, t-shirt, and a brand new pair of boxers he'd pulled from an unopened package, he found Emma's wet clothing piled almost neatly in the middle of the bathtub. He made sure to keep his back to the shower stall as he set the new clothes and towel on the closed toilet seat and left the room carrying Emma's wet things. The thought of Emma smelling like his shampoo and soap after a shower while wearing his clothes was almost too much for him to bear while standing the same room with her.

Emma was facing a similar dilemma in the shower. She immediately turned away from the door when Will re-entered the room and closed her eyes, just taking the feeling of the almost scalding water warming her cold skin. Without even noticing what she had been doing, Emma squirted some of the shampoo into her hands and began working it into her hair, only pausing when she realized that the shower began to smell more and more like Will. She finished washing as quickly as possible and shut off the water, wringing out her hair before she stepped out of the shower stall in search of a towel.

Will's jaw almost became unhinged from his skull when Emma emerged from the bathroom a short time later. She was almost swimming in the t-shirt, with a small sliver of the boxer shorts peeking out from underneath the hem. "Thanks for everything, Will," Emma said sincerely.

"No problem, Em," Will poured hot water into the mugs he had sitting on the counter. "Tea okay? I'm out of coffee right now, sorry."

"Tea would be great, thank you," Emma accepted the mug he passed to her.

"Your clothes are in the dryer now," Will said. "I wasn't sure if they could be dried or not, so I put them on air. It might take a while."

"Oh!" Emma exclaimed, suddenly remembering about the pile of her things that had fallen into the muddy ground outside the school and startling Will in the process. "My bag and files! They fell into the mud outside the school, Will!"

"It's okay, I got them," Will shushed her with a hand on her shoulder. "I wiped off the bag – all the contents were fine – and the papers are drying on the kitchen table. Come on, Em, follow me."

Will sat them both down on the couch in the living room and turned on the television for background noise. "This is really great tea, Will," Emma said, sipping from the mug daintily.

"A cousin found it in London last summer and sent it to my mother as a gift," Will explained. "My parents don't drink tea so they passed it on to me. It's the first time I've had it though. I'm glad you like it."

Sound from the TV filled the room over the next few moments as they sipped the tea and Will attempted to keep his eyes from sticking on the pale expanse of Emma's legs sticking out from the bottom of his boxers. Her face was equally as enticing, washed free of the small amount of makeup she used to hide the freckles that stood out fairly prominently in the light emanating from the television.

Finally, Will had had enough. He plucked the nearly empty mug from Emma's hands and placed it on the coffee table in front of them. "Will, what—" was all Emma could get out.

Will answered by simply reaching out, hauling her into his lap, and kissing her in the manner he'd been imagining since their kiss in the hallway.

It was quite some time before either of them surfaced long enough to talk. They had moved to stretch out on the couch, with Emma lying along the full length of Will's body. The TV still droned on in the background, although it was hard for either of them to concentrate with one of Will's hands weaving through Emma's hair while the other ran up and down the smooth skin of her exposed thigh.

"Em?" Will waited until she'd moved her head to look into his eyes before continuing. "Why doesn't it bother you when I touch you? Ken told me once that you cried when he just brushed against you…but you aren't worried when I'm touching you."

Emma blushed as the truth came pouring out of her mouth. "I've never been bothered by you, Will," she started. "You make everything go away when you come into the room. Nothing every bothers me when you're around. I think that you're my hero, Will Schuester."

And the hero's cheeks matched those of his damsel as he leaned down to seal his lips to hers once again.


	9. Interruptions

Hello again! It's me! And look, it's a new chapter!

I've had a pretty crappy week, and all of your reviews have definitely helped me keep my head up. The good thing is that I have less than three weeks left of classes, which means 3 weeks this Tuesday until Glee! I've also managed to narrow it down so I've only got 2 assignments left to do, while some of my classmates have upwards of 6-8. Ha! Taking summer classes definitely helps!

This one was a random one that popped into my head while thinking of ideas for "J". They really have nothing to do with one another – that's just how my mind works sometimes. Also, they are **not** in order. Another quirk of my brain…I'm just going to be whatever pops into my head for this one.

Enjoy! Please review if you can. Also, I'm short suggestions for a few letters yet....don't just say ones for the next letter, spread out through the whole alphabet! I love being inspired by all of you!

* * *

**  
I – Interruptions**

_  
~The Office~_

A knock on the classroom door brought Will out of his daze and his head up to glance in the direction of the noise. "Oh, good, Emma. I've been waiting for you."

"I got your message," Emma stepped further into his office, shutting the door behind herself. "What did you need?"

"Well," Will stood from his desk, "I was running late this morning and didn't get my usual welcome and good morning greeting."

"Oh really?" Emma arched one eyebrow playfully. "Is that so?"

"Mmm, it is so," Will said as he sauntered towards her. "I'm not sure that that's quite appropriate, given the weekend we just had."

Emma's face flushed a deep, dark red as she recalled details from the weekend in question. "I suppose we should rectify this, then," she reached out to intertwine their fingers when Will reached her.

"My thoughts exactly," Will whispered. His eyes darkened and acquired a certain sparkle that Emma had become familiar with.

The whole room seemed to fade away as Will leaned down to…

"Mr. Schue!"

Both adults sprung apart, startled by the sudden loud burst of Rachel's voice from just outside the door. Her knock sounded much louder and faster than Emma's had, and continued while Will and Emma struggled to calm themselves down.

"Mr. Schue! I need to talk to you about a song that we _have_ to do for Regionals!" Rachel said insistently. "Mr. Schue? Are you listening to me?"

"Just a moment Rachel," Will called out, turning his attention back to Emma. "Tonight, my place, 7 o'clock. I'm cooking."

Emma reached up to peck his lips quickly before hurrying to the door. "Thank you for that information, Mr. Schuester," she said professionally as she opened the door to reveal a slightly frustrated Rachel Berry. "I'll be sure to make a note to remember that."

_Adults are strange_ Rachel thought, her eyes following a slightly blushing Emma out of sight and then locked onto a crimson-faced Will, who seemed to have forgotten about the student standing in his office.

_Very strange.  
_

* * *

_  
~Asking Her Out~_

After the kiss in the hallway, Emma and Will had sat down in her living room and hashed out a plan. Will would move into her guest room – and out of his office – while he was filing for divorce from Terri. Any plans to move forward with whatever there was between them would have to wait until after the papers were signed by a judge and made official. With Will paying Emma rent every month (his idea) there was no way Terri and her lawyer could accuse him of any sort of adultery.

Emma was doing up some of her leftover paperwork when her door swung open lightly. "Will, hi!" She said brightly, setting down her pen. "Have a seat."

"Thank Emma," Will let himself fall into one of the chairs facing her. "I just got back from the appointment."

"Appointme-oh!" Emma's eyes widened as she remembered what Will was referring to. "How did it go?"

"It's done," he said simply, a smile beginning to spread across his face. "She gets all of the Pottery Barn crap, the apartment, and none of my teaching salary."

"And you're okay with everything?" Emma asked. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied Will's face carefully.

"One hundred percent okay," Will assured her. "I just can't be there anymore. That place hasn't been home for a while now."

Emma felt a smile coming across her face to match the one on Will's. "Oh," she said, looking down at the abandoned paperwork to try and hide the ear-splitting grin.

"So, Em, I was thinking," Will's voice took on a playful tone that had her looking up at him instantly. "There's something that I've been wanting to ask you for a while now, and today just seems like the perfect day to do so."

"Yes?" Emma urged him on eagerly.

"Emma, would you –" Will began, only to get cut off suddenly.

"Mr. Schue! There you are!" Finn stuck his head into Emma's office. "We've been looking all over for you! Rachel and Kurt are having a diva-off in the choir room and it's getting a bit ugly."

"Sorry Em, gotta run," Will apologized as he rose from his seat. "I'll find you when I'm done with this, okay?"

Emma couldn't help but giggle to herself, watching Will take off down the hall after the football player in the direction of the choir room. Only the glee kids…

Will appeared at the door to Emma's office several times throughout the rest of the day, but always when Emma was in a meeting with a student. The only break she had was just after the lunch hour and she took time to wander down the hall and peer inside Will's classroom. His passion for teaching Spanish had always inspired her, so she found herself pausing to watch through the crack where the door hadn't been closed all the way. She had missed her usual lunch talk with him due to an unscheduled meeting with Figgins and a parent whose child had decided to try and shove every freshman possible into the lockers.

*

The bell at the end of the school day was a welcome sound to Emma, as her last few appointments had been rather taxing ones. She knew Will always spent one afternoon a week prepping at the school for his lessons and glee, so she was planning on resting at home for a bit before cooking comfort food for their dinner. Without even thinking anything different, Emma simply packed up her things and headed out to her car.

All thoughts of a nap went out of her head when the smell of baking salmon filled her nose upon walking in the front door. "Will? What are you doing home?" Emma asked. She walked into the kitchen to find Will slaving over several pots on the stove, a frilly yellow apron tied around his waist.

"Emma!" Will yelped, almost upending a pot in his surprise. "Uh, hi."

"Yes, hi," Emma tried, and failed, to stifle her giggles. "That all smells amazing, Will, but don't you have prep time today?"

"I did it all yesterday while you were doing SAT prep," Will told her, crouching down to check on the salmon baking in the oven. "It got so busy today that I thought I'd come home and cook something for you instead of the other way around."

"You're too kind, Will," Emma reached out and squeezed his forearm in thanks. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just go sit in the living room and I'll bring the food in when it's done," Will shooed her out of the kitchen. "It'll just be another few minutes, I promise."

As promised, Will emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later with two plates laden down with food. "I hope you like it," he handed Emma one of the plates along with a set of cutlery.

"It smells delicious," Emma told him sincerely. She took a small bite of salmon and almost moaned in pleasure. "Mmm, and it tastes better than it smells. Thank you, Will."

"No problem, Em," Will said. "Hey, so, about earlier today. I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?" Emma set her plate aside in anticipation of what it could be. "What is it, Will?"

"I—" Will was interrupted yet again by a loud knock on the door.

"Mr. Schue! Ms. P!" Mercedes hollered through the front door. "Guys, it's Quinn!"

"We will continue this later, Will," Emma promised as she got up to answer the door.

*

It was after midnight when both teachers found themselves standing in front of the observation window in the maternity ward of the hospital. Quinn had been in labour for a rather short period of time, and was now resting with Puck and the rest of the glee kids in her room. Will and Emma had excused themselves to get coffee, but Will had diverted them to look at the new addition to the New Directions family one more time. It was clear that despite everything that had happened, he was still very much in love with little Aubrey Fabray-Puckerman.

"She's beautiful," Emma commented, her hand resting comfortably on Will's back as they both gazed at the tiny baby sleeping soundly in front of them.

"She's perfect," Will agreed. He took one last look at her before turning to face Emma and grasping her hand tightly in his. "Emma Pillsbury, will you do the honour of going out on a date with me?"

Emma's jaw dropped slightly and she felt her heartbeat quickening. "Will?"

"It's what I've been trying to ask you all day, Em," Will said. "I'm completely and totally divorced, and I don't want to wait another day to be with you. So, will you allow me to take you out to dinner?"

"I-I'd love to, Will," Emma answered, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Good," Will pulled Emma into his arms, holding her tightly to him as they both turned back to watch Aubrey twitch slightly in her sleep. "Good."


	10. Just The Way You Are

Oh my God, I'm updating! I'm sorry it's taken to long, but school was finishing and life was a bit crazy. Fortunately, I now have one written exam left in my entire Bachelor of Music degree (hooray!) and then I'm completely free to write all summer long. I've also been enjoying Hell-o and The Power of Madonna while attempting to (read: not happening yet) study for my History of Modern Europe exam.

My junior high jazz band played this song when I was in it in 10th grade, and we all hated playing it. I love the song though, as I grew up listening to Billy Joel, along with Elton John, the Bee Gees, the Beatles....all the good stuff. My mom's been a huge influence on my musical tastes, so I'd like to dedicate this to her, despite the fact that she doesn't watch the show or read my stuff. Still, this is for you, Mom!

I'd love to hear ideas for I through Z, as I've only got a few ideas jotted down for the future. I'm definitely using future ideas for other letters, so keep them coming! Thanks for still reading, and I hope you enjoy this latest installment!

* * *

**  
J – "Just The Way You Are"**

Four months after Emma's rather hasty exit from Will's apartment, Will finally appeared in front of a judge along with Terri and their mutual lawyers. It had taken Will threatening Terri with telling his lawyer and the judge about the fake pregnancy, something that he'd graciously kept out of the way so everything would be finished faster, for her to finally sign the papers and stop harassing him. Terri had been showing up at the school before, during, and after school to try and convince Will to return to her. This included barging in on glee club rehearsals and shrieking at Emma to the point where Will had to forcibly drag her out of the glass-encased office before Emma's composure shattered completely. That occurrence had been the last straw for Will, leading them to the inevitable court date for the judge to sign the papers and make everything official.

The night it was all over, Will decided to spend the evening cleaning his new bachelor suite. It turned out that Emma had had a strong influence on him during their short attempt at a relationship, and there were a multitude of cleaning supplies that now sat in the small cupboard underneath the sink. Will had a large selection to choose from as he decided to start with the bathroom and work his way through the rest of the apartment.

A knock on the front door stirred Will from the cleaning trance that he'd been encased in. He turned down the Elton John blasting from his iPod docking station and hurried to open the door.

"Emma?" A slightly confused look crossed Will's face at the sight of the petite redhead standing on the other side of the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just checking to see how you are," Emma said nervously. "I remembered what today was, Will."

"Oh," Will scuffed his bare foot on the ground. "Do you, uh, you want to come in?"

"Thanks," Emma slipped through the door and toed off her shoes, still not making eye contact with him. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning," Will said. "I couldn't think of anything else to do, and I just didn't want to do nothing tonight."

The entryway was silent for a few moments as both adults got lost in their thoughts. "Um, Will?" Emma broke the silence. "Would you like some help?"

A look of relief crossed Will's face and the tension seemed to drain from his body. "That would be fantastic, Emma," he smiled his first real smile in the past four months. "Would you like something clean to change into?"

"Sure, Will, that would be great," Emma nodded.

Emma dressed in the sweats and button down shirt that Will retrieved from his closet, rolling up both the sleeves and legs so that she wasn't swimming in the pieces of clothing. She quickly took charge of cleaning the kitchen, gently correcting Will's usage of a few different products that were meant for other uses. Will coaxed Emma into singing along with him as they cleaned, even pulling her up into a lively dance during Elton John's _Crocodile Rock_. It was easily the most fun evening either of them had had in quite a long time, and neither wanted it to end.

Will's iPod switched to Billy Joel just as Will and Emma were finishing with the final room in the apartment. Four songs in, Will set down his dusting rag and pulled Emma's out of her hand gently. "Will, wha--" Emma was cut off by Will placing his finger gently on her lips.

"Just trust me," Will whispered, pulling Emma close to him. She wrapped both arms around his neck loosely, staring at a small bleach stain on his t-shirt rather than making eye contact with him.

This song, Will knew for sure, didn't belong to him and Terri in any way, shape, or form. Terri had never liked Billy Joel, so Will didn't get a chance to listen to him that often. His mother loved playing Billy Joel and Elton John around the house when he was growing up, and his father always pulled his mother up do dance with her whenever this particular song came on during the evening. Will would sit on the couch with his homework, pausing to look up and watch the true love that his parents seemed to exude while dancing. He'd always hoped to renew this tradition with Terri but it just hadn't felt right to do so at any point in their fifteen years together.

"Thank you for coming here tonight, Em," Will whispered, afraid that he would disturb the atmosphere if he spoke any louder.

"I thought you might not want to be alone," Emma found herself drifting closer to the warmth emitting from Will's body. "I'm glad you let me in."

"I'll always let you in, Emma," Will promised. "I've missed you."

"Missed you too," Emma mumbled. She finally gave in to her desires and rested her cheek on Will's chest, her head tucked snugly underneath his chin.

"Emma, there's something I need to say to you," Will said, securing his arms around her waist to keep her close. Upon hearing her hum of consent, he continued: "I wanted to apologize for what I said a while back. I shouldn't have pressed you to go see a counselor. That really should've been your choice from the beginning."

"I wasn't brave enough to take that first step, Will," Emma pulled back just enough to finally look him in the eye. "I needed the help, and you are the main reason why I finally went for it."

"Emma," Will breathed, unable to tear his eyes from her face. He pulled her back to his chest and began singing quietly along with the lyrics to the song.

"_I said I love you, and that's forever,  
And this I promise from the heart,  
I couldn't love you, any better,  
I love you just the way you are."_

Tears slipped from the corners of Emma's eyes at the raw sincerity in Will's voice and the way it rumbled through his chest and directly into her ear. "I love it when you sing," Emma nuzzled firmly into his chest.

"I mean it, Em," Will kissed the top of her head. "Don't go changing for me. You're perfect just the way you are."

"And the other part?" Emma said quietly, running her fingers through the soft hair at the bass of Will's neck.

Will stopped their soft swaying to the music and leaned down to press his forehead to hers. "Most definitely," he closed his eyes and inhaled the unique, calming smell of Emma. "I love you, Emma, just the way you are."

"I love you too, Will," Emma said, unable to keep a smile from stretching across her face. "I've always loved you."

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before returning Emma's head to its place on his chest. There was no reason to rush anything – they had all the time in the world. Tonight Will wanted nothing more than to hold the woman he loved in his arms, knowing that she was his and he was hers and nothing or no one was going to keep them apart any longer.


	11. Kettle

Hey all! It's been a little while (job angst, unfortunately, taken over my life once school ended), but I'm hopefully settling down to just write and have fun now. This one just came out...and I'm not sure if I really like it or not. I've definitely got a few ideas for the overflow series that I'm doing once this is done.

Please submit more ideas! I'm running out of them for upcoming letters....and the current Wemma situation on the show isn't helping me all that much. *sigh* Oh boys....when will you let our beloved couple finally get together? It'd better be damn good when it happens!

On an added note - does anyone know how to add extra space between the title and the body of the story? I can't get the document to do what I want it to, which is really frustrating me. Grr....

Enjoy! Please take time to review....and remember to suggest things for any letter, even ones previously done. I am doing an overflow series to cover any ideas that I didn't do in these first 26 when this is finally completed.

Edit note: Thanks to **nirricles-happen** for noticing my brain fart in the last sentence. I put program instead of problem. *sigh* Also, I hate tea as well. This is a bit of an homage to my two former roommates (who I lived with for two years), who had an entire cupboard dedicated to tea at one point. It disgusted me slightly...but oh well. To each their own!

* * *

**K – Kettle  
**

One of the first things Emma noticed about Will was how much tea he drank. He'd always had either a mug of tea or a bottle of water in his hand for as long as she'd known him, almost never imbibing in the coffee that Sue often brought in to show off. Coffee, Will told her once, was saved for those days when he was running on little to no sleep, or when everything was crammed in to make the day so full that there was no time to stop and sit for five minutes to refresh. Besides, tea was better all around for your voice, and that was something Will needed to protect more than most teachers.

Tea was Will's drink of choice whenever the two of them headed back to an apartment after one of their dates. Emma always partook in this tradition as well, simply because it was not productive to drink coffee that late at night. On one of these post-date nightcaps, Emma joined Will in the kitchen to continue their chat while he made their drinks. She swung her legs from where Will had placed her on his clean countertop, kicking the cupboard doors lightly as she watched him get tea bags and mugs ready for the water. Emma found herself looking around the kitchen for the kettle that would inevitably be filled with water for their tea, and was almost mortified when she saw what Will grabbed instead.

"Will!" Emma gasped. "Is that how you make tea?"

"Uh, oh, yeah," Will said sheepishly, looking down at the slightly under banged up pot in his hand.

"Don't you have a kettle?" Emma asked.

"Terri took it," Will admitted as he filled the pot with water from the tap. "My parents got it for us as an anniversary gift a couple of years ago."

"Oh Will," Emma smoothed a stray curl back from his forehead soothingly. "But you love tea so much…"

Will shrugged and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "I've gotten used to it," he said simply. "Now, what sounds good to you?"

The topic of the lack of a proper kettle was never really revisited until several months later. Will's divorce had been finalized a few weeks beforehand, and they had slowly gotten used to being together in public. Emma was, surprisingly, the one to bring up the idea of cohabitation. They quickly agreed over dinner at her place one night that it would be best for both of them if they started out in a new place, erasing all memories of the past. It took the couple almost no time at all to find a suitable small house not too far from the school and they began moving in very quickly.

Emma waited until Will headed to retrieve the final box from their shared moving truck before placing a gift wrapped box onto the counter next to the coffee pot. She had spotted it on the shelf of a department store when they had taken a trip to Cleveland two weeks before in anticipation of the big move and had thought that it would be a perfect housewarming gift for her wonderful boyfriend. Will had darted off to check out something in the music store across the street from the store, giving Emma plenty of time to purchase the item and stow it away in the depths of her car's trunk where Will would hopefully not find it.

"Okay Em, we're all done!" Will announced as he came back into the kitchen. "The moving guys just left."

"I'm going to go start on the bedroom, if you don't mind doing some work on the kitchen," Emma offered, reaching up to kiss Will when he stopped in front of her. "Just make sure you wipe down everything before you put it away."

"Hey, wait a sec," Will's eyes darted around Emma to rest on the package she'd left on the counter. "What's this?"

"It's for you, Will," Emma smiled nervously up at him. "It's a housewarming gift."

"Emma…" Will breathed. "You didn't have to…"

"But I wanted to," Emma insisted, her cheeks burning as Will gazed down at her. "Go ahead, open it."

Will grabbed the box and tore at the paper eagerly, making sure that every scrap was placed on the counter instead of floating to the floor. "Wow, Em," Will gaped at the box when he'd finished unwrapping it.

"I thought you deserved to be able to make tea in a proper vessel," Emma said. "I saw this when we were in Cleveland and thought you'd love it."

"I do love it, Emma," Will set the stainless steel tea kettle down and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. "It's perfect."

Emma let out a sigh of relief, hugging Will tightly. "I'm glad, Will. I'm really glad you like it."

"And I think that now is the perfect time for us to break in the kettle and the house," Will announced. "You get the tea, I'll get the water."

"Do you remember what box we put the tea in?" Emma asked as she tried to decide which box to attack first.

"The one with the purple writing," Will said absently, pulling the brand new kettle from its box. "Wow Em, this really is something."

"Boys and their toys," Emma teased. She selected the correct box and began rifling through to find their stash of tea. "What do we want to drink?"

"All up to you, Em," Will was clearly entranced in trying to put just enough water in the kettle. "Man, this thing is cool!"

Fifteen rather entertaining minutes later, Will and Emma were curled up together in front of the large bay window with steaming mugs of tea. The streetlights outside illuminated the light dusting of snow that was slowly covering the ground. Will had taken a few moments to figure out how to work the gas fireplace, his antics sending Emma into a fit of giggles that nearly spilled their tea. Lights were turned off so the room was lit by the streetlight and the flickering gas-flame of the fake fireplace. Emma was content to simply leave all of the unpacking in the boxes and crates and cuddle with Will on what was now their couch.

"What's on your mind?" Will whispered as if afraid to break the moment.

"Mm, nothing really," Emma replied, taking a sip of tea and snuggling closer to him. "Just thinking about how weird this all is."

"Good weird or bad weird?" Will wanted to know.

"Oh, good weird," Emma assured him. "Definitely good weird. It's a very strange feeling when all of your dreams come true."

Will hummed in agreement, placing a soft kiss on Emma's hair. "Well, Em, I just have one thing to say."

"And what is that, Will?" Emma shifted so she could smile up at him.

"Welcome home," Will said happily.

"Welcome home to you too," Emma returned, thinking of the kettle sitting on the kitchen counter. It was almost crazy for her to think that such a simple, small appliance could symbolize their new life in the new house, but Emma had a feeling that their life would now somewhat revolve around that stainless steel kettle.

And Emma had no problem with it whatsoever.


	12. Lonely No More

Hi all!

Just a quick note before this chapter. It's slightly based off of the Rob Thomas song of the same name...as in I was sort of listening to it when the idea came to me.

Also, does anyone have the answer to my issue with the lack of space between the title and text of the story? I've tried everything and am getting extremely frustrated. I'll take any and all ideas I can get!

I love reviews and ideas, and I'm hoping to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Please keep the reviews and suggestions pouring in! Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed thus far!

* * *

**L - "Lonely No More"**

Will Schuester had been on quite a ride over the last two months. Terri was dragging him through a rather ugly divorce, finally ending when he blurted out what exactly she had done during a meeting with their lawyers. He had tried to keep it out of the proceedings as much as possible, but Terri knew which buttons to push and had finally pushed just a fraction too hard. This had led to his lawyer pressing harder for it all to be finished and Terri's simply wanting to keep it out of court with this new information coming to light. Will was awarded the apartment – which he promptly sold – as well as the entirety of his salary and all of his possessions. It was a long and rather lonely weekend when he packed up what was left in the apartment and moved to the small bachelor suite closer to the school.

There had been very little movement on the Emma front after the damage that Sue caused. Once Will found out that Sue was behind Emma's outburst in the faculty room he had taken all of his anger from everything out on the cheerleading coach. This had unfortunately been done when Figgins was passing by Sue's open office door, resulting in him sending Will home for the rest of the day as punishment. All in all, it had felt almost as good as giving it back to Sue about the hair cracks. Emma had heard about the incident, no doubt, but had not said anything to him about it. She stayed in her office during lunch breaks and scheduled as many appointments as possible during Will's free periods to prevent being alone in her office. Still, he persisted with single flowers and small notes singing her praises on her desk before school. None of the flowers had made it into her garbage pail, as far as he could tell, although he couldn't see them in her office the next morning.

It was on yet another lonely, quiet Friday night that Will finally decided that enough was enough. He was lying on the couch in his college sweats, watching yet another predictable Jerry Bruckheimer procedural. Even though he'd never seen it before, Will knew he could recite the general plot line from memory, so he let his mind drift as the TV droned on in the background. As per usual, Will's thoughts drifted to the redhead who he hadn't so much as said hello to in the past couple of months. The giant cavern in his chest ached when Emma's face filled his mind. Even before the divorce started, Emma was always there for him to at least talk to. She'd been his best friend for just over two years and suddenly he couldn't tell her anything, leaving him with no one to confide in. Will had discovered that that fact was what hurt even more than Terri's betrayal. Terri had never truly been his best friend, something that a wife should be before you marry them; Emma had instead filled that void as soon as she came into his life.

With the thought that he could never lose his best friend planted firmly into his brain, Will threw on a pair of comfortable shoes, turned off the TV and headed straight for his car. It took just moments to drive to Emma's small condo and Will found his resolve fading just slightly when he pulled into her driveway. What was he supposed to say? How could he even be sure that Emma would open the door, let alone allow him into her house? He was beginning to think that it was a horrible idea, especially with Emma's words reverberating through his mind. She didn't want anything to do with him, and he wasn't sure she ever would again.

A sharp knock on the driver's side window startled Will out of his thoughts. He felt his cheeks reddening when he noticed Emma bending down slightly to look straight at him. "Uh, hi Emma," he said sheepishly after rolling down the window.

"What are you doing in my driveway this late on a Friday, Will?" Emma had a rather uncharacteristic smirk on her face, almost as if she were laughing at him.

"I, uh," Will stammered. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you…if that's okay."

"Come on in," Emma spun on her heel and began walking towards her front door. It took Will seconds to realize that he was supposed to follow, and scrambled to catch up with her.

Once they were inside and seated in her living room, Emma looked expectedly at Will to begin saying whatever he had planned on saying. "Oh right, well, here goes," Will steeled himself before turning to face Emma head on and just let the words flow: "I miss you, Emma. You've been my best friend and my rock for the past two years and I never thought that I'd lose that. I hadn't had a best friend in years before you came along, Em, and I really miss just being able to talk to you, if nothing else. I know you probably don't want anything to do with me anymore – in fact, I completely understand if you don't. I just wanted to let you know that I miss you."

Silence filled the room for several minutes as Emma stared at her hands folded in her lap and Will stared at the top of her head, trying to find anything he could use to gauge her reaction. "Um, Emma?" Will coughed nervously. "I was kind of hoping for a reaction of some sort…even if you just want to kick me out."

"Will," Emma breathed. She finally looked up, and Will was almost shocked to see that her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"Em, don't cry," Will pleaded, rising from his chair and moving to sit beside her on the couch. "It's okay."

"I miss you too, Will," Emma admitted as Will wiped away tears that had begun to fall. "God, I tried so hard to stick to what I said to you before, but I can't Will, I just can't! You were my best friend too, and I just miss seeing you and talking to you."

Will took a huge leap of faith that he was doing the right thing and pulled Emma into a strong embrace. "Sh, Emma, it's okay," he soothed. "I'm here now."

"I can't go back to the way things have been," Emma said once her tears had subsided. "I haven't slept properly in weeks. I've been tossing and turning over what I said to you and I just wanted to say that--"

"Emma, no," Will said firmly. "Don't regret it. Trust me, it was the right thing to say. I needed to hear that from you."

"What do you mean?"

"I was a mess, Emma—I didn't know which way was up and which was down," Will explained. "What I needed was your swift kick in the ass to realize what I want. And what I want is you."

Emma took a deep, shuddering breath as she leaned back and forced herself to look Will square in the eyes. "I'm not sure if I can trust you the way I did before," she started, "but I want to relearn how to."

"We'll go slow," Will assured her. "I just need to have you in my life somehow. I need my best friend to help me get through the mess that is my life right now, and I'll take her in any way she decides."

"Oh Will," Emma wrapped her arms around Will and guided his head to rest on her shoulder. "I'm here for you, always."

Sunshine woke Will the following morning; he was more than slightly confused as to why he was on a couch rather than his bed. The odd rising and falling motion of his pillow helped him clue into the fact that he was not at home. He and Emma had spent hours lying in each other's arms, talking about anything and everything that had happened in the time they had been apart and Will remembered succumbing to exhaustion at some point after midnight with his head comfortably pillowed on Emma's shoulder. That was the exact position he found himself in upon waking, with Emma's arms wound tightly around his shoulders and torso. Will allowed a broad smile to grace his features and snuggled back into her embrace. This was the best way to wake up on a Saturday morning, and he could only hope that he'd wake up like this for years and years to come.


	13. Milk

Hi again! It's me! I just have to gush a bit - how awesome was Theatricality? And the preview for Funk...hot stuff! I fanned myself a bit after the end of that. :D

The idea for this chapter came from a really early reviewer - unpocoloco13. Thank you for the suggestion! I'd love more of them, as I'm slowly running out of ideas. I tend to start/finish these around 2am while watching Providence and AFV, so if anything doesn't make sense...that's why.

Reviews are, as always, awesome. Ideas are also awesome. Thanks, and enjoy!

* * *

**M – Milk  
**.  
.

As a general rule, Emma had avoided any and all dairy products since the unfortunate dairy farm incident. She drank almond milk (or soy when almond was unavailable), used very little margarine and no butter, and stayed away from most frozen desserts. It didn't generally bother her when others consumed dairy in her presence unless the dairy was extremely potent or messy.

The therapy (with a qualified therapist this time after the debacle with Sue) had been helping Emma in dealing with her phobias in ways that no other therapist had been able to before. Emma was able to limit her hand sanitizing and Clorox usage, even allowing rinsed breakfast dishes to sit in the sink for the remainder of the day so she could do all of the dishes together after dinner. Simply washing her grapes twice at home got them sufficiently clean enough to negate the individual wiping once in the faculty lounge at school.

Not long after Will and Terri's divorce was finalized, Will had sold the old apartment and, upon her insistence, moved into Emma's spare room. They had slowly become friends again after her outburst (and subsequent apology and explanation a few weeks later after spending time with the new therapist), and Will had confided in her that he just couldn't take living in that space any longer. There were no appropriate apartments or condos available in all of Lima and it seemed as though every sign was pointing at Emma to offer up her spare room.

So she did.

Will, as it turned out, loved milk in everything, as well in every shape and form. A jug of milk, block of cheese and even a tub of ice cream took up residence in her kitchen. Emma's almond milk was now kept company by a small container of half and half for Will's tea. These small things would have sent pre-therapy Emma into a frenzy, but the new Emma simply asked Will to keep them from spilling in the house. Morning cereal would be poured into bowls by whoever got up and out of the shower first, set to the side so the other could add their own form of milk. Will was careful to only use his mugs for tea so Emma wouldn't grab his by mistake when they were at home in the evenings.

As hard as he tried, there were just some occasions when Will couldn't protect Emma from the perils of dairy. The slushie machine at the convenience store across the street had broken the evening before, leaving only the soft-serve ice cream machine for the students to partake in. Karofsky quickly discovered that if you added a bit of water to the ice cream, a consistency could be achieved that was so perfect for tossing it almost rivaled the slushie. Students learned of the new trick fast, and were careful to avoid the jocks at all costs.

"Oh, Miss Pillsbury!" Rachel called out, racing down the hall to catch up with the redheaded guidance counselor. "Miss Pillsbury, may I take a moment of your time to discuss a rather important issue?"

"Why don't you walk with me to my office, Rachel?" Emma suggested. She motioned for the girl to lead the way down the hall. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm having a problem with the way the glee club is treated by the rest of the student body," Rachel explained. "After we conquered Regionals I expected us to be treated differently by everyone else, but it hasn't changed one bit."

"Well, Rachel, I'm not sure exactly how I can help with this," Emma said truthfully. "It takes people more time to realize just how talented you all are than others, but I'm sure that in time it will happen."

"That's what Mr. Schue said too," Rachel huffed impatiently. "The thing is, Miss Pillsbury, I'm just not wanting to wait for us to gain the respect we need. Do you think if we imitated the football players and Cheerios we would have the same prestige as them around the school?"

"Rachel I do-" was all Emma was able to get out before she was suddenly covered from head to toe in a very cold substance.

"Dude, Karofsky, you hit the wrong one!" Some jock yelled, although Emma could barely hear him over the sudden pounding in her head.

The overpowering smell of dairy invaded Emma's senses as the slightly watered down ice cream trickled into Emma's ears, nose, and mouth on its journey down her body. She was rooted to the spot; her eyes squeezed shut tightly to prevent any of the ice cream from getting into them. Rachel was yelling at Karofsky, who in turn was attempting to flee the scene. He would have accomplished that task had several teachers not emerged from their classrooms to see what all the commotion was about.

"Emma?" Will's familiar touch almost burned through the freezing ice cream. "Oh God, Emma, it's going to be okay. Just count backwards."

"I didn't mean to hit her, Mr. Schuester, I swear!" Karofsky spluttered. "I heard that Berry chick's voice and was aiming for her."

"Because that makes it all better," Will rested his teacher's glare on the burly hockey player. "Principal Figgins' office now, Karofsky."

"Will?" Emma managed to squeak out through pursed lips.

"Right, let's go," Will reached down to sweep Emma up into his arms. "Rach, do you mind letting the office know that we're both gone for the day?"

"Sure thing Mr. Schue," the brunette agreed, bouncing off down the hall.

Will carried Emma out to his car, strapped her into the passenger seat, and drove as fast as he could back home. Emma kept counting slowly backwards the entire time while breathing deeply. It was all she could do to not surrender to the panic attack that was attempting to beat through the walls she'd erected in her brain. Will's comforting presence and smell helped keep Emma grounded, especially the hand clasped tightly in her own the whole time.

"Hold on Emma," Will shifted her in his arms outside the front door as he inserted his key into the lock. "We're almost at the shower."

"It's so cold, Will," Emma mumbled, snuggling closer to him.

"I know," Will soothed. He jogged through the condo and set Emma on her feet just over the threshold to the bathroom. "Shower away, Riding Hood."

"Thanks," Emma said in a small voice as Will shut the door behind him.

It took a good forty-five minutes before Emma emerged from the bathroom. Will had taken the time to change out of his ice cream stained teaching clothes and into more comfortable clothing for lounging around. The kettle was full of hot water for tea and dinner was on its way from the only delivery place Emma had ever trusted to prepare her food. Will had stretched out on the couch with his tea balanced on his stomach, watching some random cartoon to pass time until Emma was finished.

He looked up when a shuffling sound near the doorway caught his attention. "Hey you," he said softly, taking in Emma's outfit. "Did you raid my closet again?"

"I needed to feel comfortable," Emma blushed and looked down at her feet that were covered by the overly long legs of his sweatpants.

"You look it," Will commented. He was suddenly taken aback when Emma crossed the room and clambered onto the couch to lie on top of him. "Whoa, hey there. Whatcha doing?"

"You're comfy," Emma nuzzled into his chest as he carefully moved his tea to the coffee table.

"I'm proud of you," Will told her, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her close. "You did so well with the mess today."

"I couldn't have done it if you weren't there with me," Emma let a small smile blossom on her face. "My therapist thinks that you're almost like a cure for the germs."

"Like aloe to a sunburn?" Will teased, eliciting a giggle from the woman stretched out on top of him. "Seriously though Em, that's quite a compliment. Thank you."

Emma shook her head emphatically, leaning back to look him straight in the eye. "No, thank you Will. For today, for the last few months…for everything."

"I'm trying to be better than before, Em," Will said softly. He found himself focusing on the hand that was playing with strands of her hair rather than her eyes as he continued: "I need you to know that I can be there for you."

"You are," Emma assured him. "Just by being here, being in this house, you're helping me in more ways than you could imagine. The dairy smell wasn't as bad as it used to be."

"Anything for you," Will pulled Emma back down to cuddle closer to him, "anything, Emma."


	14. New Directions

So...it's been a while. I know. Life has been pretty interesting. I graduated with my Bachelor of Music degree (finally!) and then proceeded to drive home with my parents. 14 hours on day one...leading me to recall why I dislike sitting in a car for hours at a time. I did get a ton of work done on this, though, so that was good. I spent time at home with my one-year-old goddaughter and her mother (my best friend) and then headed back home to work and such. A few lovely houseguests (my brother, his girlfriend, their dog) took over my house yesterday and part of today, but now it's all back to normal.

I'm hoping that updates will become more regular as I'm trying to focus on this more and more now. I need your suggestions though! I think I have the O chapter planned out, but I'm not 100% sure yet. Your suggestions are always what motivates me to keep going on this.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, added the story to their alerts, and added the story to their favourites. It really means a lot to me that you like what I'm doing. Thank you so much!

Today's chapter is brought to you by the letter "N"...

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**N – New Directions**

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Along with sun and freedom, summer also brought a large quotient of boredom into Will Schuester's life. The news that New Directions would get another year had filled him with a desire to start looking for new music to order and arrange for the kids to rehearse come September, but there was only so much time that that particular task could take up. His parents were taking time to visit relatives all over the country and had offered him the backseat of their car. He'd turned them down politely, as road-tripping with his parents hadn't been a good idea when he was a kid. So instead Will slept in, ran at least five miles a day, worked on glee music, and tried not to laze around in general.

No matter what he did, Will couldn't fight back the thoughts of Emma that continued to invade his brain. He would make copious amounts of peanut butter and jam (or jelly) sandwiches, moping while eating them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The sight of Lysol in the cleaning aisle in Wal-Mart almost brought tears to his eyes for all the wrong reasons. His low points came when the only thing Will could manage to do that day was scrub his entire apartment from top to bottom. He would put on _My Fair Lady_ and scour every surface, trying to get it as close to Emma-clean as possible.

It was after one such day of moping and cleaning that the Spanish teacher and glee director was sprawled out on his couch with a bottle of beer and bowl of popcorn. He'd found a marathon of Jim Carrey movies and was content to just sit and watch all of them until he passed out. Sleep was not an easy thing for Will to come by after his declaration to Emma almost two months previously. Closing his eyes usually meant an immediate visualization of Emma with the dentist, deterring Will from sleep and sending him towards the brink of insanity more than once. The Jim Carrey marathon was enough to force him to laugh until he dropped from sheer exhaustion.

A sudden pounding on the door made Will fling the bowl of popcorn across the room in shock. He set the beer and bowl on the coffee table safely and made his way to the door, wondering who on earth it could be. Rachel and Finn had stopped by once to drag him along to the park with them for the day, and Quinn had brought Mercedes to invite him for coffee a few times. No one in town should be knocking on his door at close to midnight on a weeknight, though.

"Open up Will!" Emma's voice shocked him as it pierced the air seconds later. "I know you're in there! Open the door!"

"Emma," Will gaped at her once the door was open. "What are you doing here?"

"It's all your fault," she snapped, pushing past him to walk into the apartment.

Will shut the door behind her and followed behind her to the living room. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Everything!" Emma almost shouted, whirling to face him. "I've been trying to live my life, Will, and you just keep getting in the way everywhere."

"I haven't seen you since school ended, Emma," Will said. "How could I be invading your life?"

"It's that stupid kiss," Emma planted her hands on her hips as her face got more and more red. "You just grabbed me and kissed me, and you weren't supposed to!"

"Then what was I supposed to do?" Will shot back. He could feel his anger beginning to rise as their issues were finally being hashed out. "I'm in love with you, Emma, and I had to do something to make you see that."

"I was with someone, Will!" Emma's voice finally got to the yelling level, her hands flailing everywhere. "I was perfectly happy with someone, and you just had to go and ruin everything for me."

There was a slight pause as Emma's words sunk in. "Was?" Will whispered, daring to hope.

"Yes Will, was," Emma snapped. "I was with Carl, perfectly fine, and then I couldn't stop thinking about you…about how you loved me and how much I wanted to…"

"Wanted to what?" Will said encouragingly as he stepped closer to her.

"It's nothing. I should go," Emma mumbled, her demeanor changing automatically when she tried to get around Will to the door.

"No, it's not nothing!" Will grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her into him. "Say it, Emma. Say it."

Emma stepped back to escape Will's grip before looking up at him with steely determination in her eyes. "He wasn't you, Will," she said. "That's all wanted – you and your smile, your arms, your words…nothing else."

"Emma," Will breathed.

"No Will, you don't get to just say my name and everything goes back to being okay!" Emma yelled. "You broke me, Will, and Carl was trying to put me back together when you came along and ruined everything."

"Then let me fix you, Em," Will insisted. He took a cautious step forward, taking another when Emma didn't move back. "I hurt you, I know that, and I want more than anything in the world to make it better."

"I don't know if I can trust you anymore," Emma whispered, looking down at her feet. "You were the first man I truly trusted, Will, and you just threw everything I gave you back in my face."

Will took one more step and rested his hands gently on her upper arms. "And that I regret more than anything else in my life," he admitted. "I had this beautiful, wonderful woman who wanted to be with me and I just tossed it all aside because of some stupid fear that I'd mess it all up like I messed up my marriage."

"That wasn't your fault Will," Emma sighed, finally leaning into his touch. "You weren't messing it up at all. My admission was what sent everything over the edge."

"Emma, _no_," Will grasped her arms tightly. "Never say that. Nothing was your fault. You didn't send me running to Shelby; I did that all by my own stupid self. Just…tell me what I can do to make it up to you. Please…anything."

"I want to know what happened with Shelby and April," Emma said quietly after a short pause. "Not just the basics that Sue told me, but everything."

It took a moment for Will to push back the rage that coursed through his body at the mention of the cheerleading coach's involvement. "Can we sit down?" He asked. "And can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm okay," Emma followed Will to sit on the couch. "I just…I need to hear all of this."

Two hours later, both were mentally and physically exhausted from the ordeal. Will's chest and shoulders felt lighter now that Emma knew the truth about everything, and Emma's heart felt lighter knowing that nothing had truly happened between him and April Rhodes. They had taken over the couch – Will sprawled out lengthwise with Emma curled up so she could rest her head on his shoulder. There was no need for extravagant displays of affection on either part; they had been through enough over the past year that merely being in the same room was enough for both of them. His hand was buried in her red locks while hers traced random patterns on his t-shirt covered chest. The late hour had drained them of the ability to do anything other than stay in their comfortable positions, something that neither of them was bothered by at all.

"It's too late for you to drive anywhere," Will murmured into Emma's hair, his hand moving up and down her spine softly. "Wouldn't want you getting into an accident by falling asleep at the wheel."

"That wouldn't be good," Emma nuzzled his neck. "Do you have something I could wear? I can't sleep in the same clothes…"

"Of course," Will stopped her rambling just before it began. "We're going to have to get up to get it, though."

"Mm," Emma allowed Will to pull her up with him. He positioned her in front and walked them in tandem towards the bedroom.

"There's a spare toothbrush in the drawer to the right," Will told Emma moments later, after he'd placed a clean t-shirt and pair of boxers into her hands. "Take your time."

"Thanks," Emma smiled softly before heading to the other room.

A huge smile broke out on Will's face the moment the bathroom door closed behind the redhead. He reached over to pinch his upper arm hard, trying to ensure that he really was awake and all of this really was happening. It almost blew his mind that two hours of conversations and explanations had brought them so far – from not even speaking to Emma changing into his clothes in preparation for them sharing his bed for the night. The new direction that his life was suddenly taking seemed quite unreal and very incredible. Will couldn't wait to see where it all took them next – together.


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